One common thread in the apparently disconnected series of killings in widely scattered places over the last 18 months is that the assailant is young, white, male, and from a suburban or small town background. Pacific News Service asked four contributors to YO! (Youth Outlook), themselves white, to give their views on this situation. Mark Schurmann, 26, lives in New York City. First of four parts.

There is rage in white men, but it does not have a common target nor is it fueled by white supremacy.

We live in a self indulgent society. White men are taught from a young age that anger is healthy, a form of self expression that needs to be served. For example, in every discussion of the death penalty someone asks, "What would you want to do to the criminal who kills your mother or father?" A question asked to elicit an emotional response, primarily anger.

Ten years ago we saw anger in the inner cities -- "black on black crime" -- and people shuddered at the thought of the hopeless, careless black youth, "superpredators" who killed because they believed they could never really live.

This was a tragedy we never truly confronted. Perhaps afraid of crossing the line between black and white, or the line between rich and poor. We turned our backs -- making sure our kids always skirted the bad neighborhoods.

Now as inner city communities have achieved some measure of peace and vitality, Americans have been thrown into shock by the numerous acts of violence committed by whites -- mostly young men -- over the past year and a half.

It must be the gun manufactures in collusion with nintendo and violent, irresponsible TV shows, we are told. But a closed fist can be as frightening and as deadly a weapon as any gun.

Those two kids sitting in that Laramie Wyoming courtroom with stunned expressions on their baby faces, terrified by the enormity of the consequences they faced -- what did they look like when they crucified that poor gay college kid? Smug, self righteous, satisfied and completely unaware of the consequences of their acts. They didn't use guns or even knives, just their fists.

That young man from Jasper Texas walked to and from the courthouse through crowds that wanted his head ripped off.

Is the anger in young white men any different from the anger of young black men, any different from the anger of young Balkan men against their former neighbors or the anger in the young crowds of Indonesia that rioted during the economic hardships?

I don't think so.

Anger is nurtured in this country, and people are taught that it is the best solution to both society's and an individual's problems. Black men who attended the Million Man March said they were astonished that so many brothers could come together in the spirit of self redemption, and ask forgiveness from each other. The feeling of dignity and goodwill emanating from the crowd was apparent even to someone watching on television.

Analysts over the past few years have tried to pinpoint the reason for the drop in crime in inner cities. Perhaps a solution to the violence in America is Farrakhan's radical notion of an open embrace rather than the closed fist.